Milk-dispensing apparatus



NOV. 25!

1 ,516,825 G. POULOS v MILK DISPENSING APPARATUS vFiled Oct. 31.

jacent e ements.

Patented Nov. 25, 1924.

rim-re n Gus rooms, or Boonie, Iowa.

mix-messa es Hermes.

Astute 610a filed October 31, 1921. Serial at; 511,734.

T 6 (ZZZ whom it eta-06m:

Be it known that I, Gus PoULos, a subject of the King ofGreece, and resident of Boone, Boone County, Iowa, have invented a new and useful MillcDispensing Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to and is an 1mprovement on the apparatus covered by Letters Patent of the United States Number 1,306,313, granted to me June 10, 1919.

An object of this invention is to provide improved means for mounting an agitator removably and replaceably in a receptacle.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved means for connecting an agitator to a spigot valve.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved construction or shape for an agitator blade.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan of the complete apparatus except that the cover is removed from the rece tacles, dotted lines indicating sub- Figure 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus, a portion of the front wall being broken away to reveal the agitator. Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the indicated line 33 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a detail view, on an enlarged scale, of a means employed for effecting a water-tight connection between the agitator shaft and the bottom of a receptacle.

In the construction of the device as shown the numeral designates generally a subdivided tank, which may be of any suitable size and construction, is adapted to be removably and replaceably mounted on a base 11 and is divided preferably into three or more compartments or receptacles designated respectively by numerals 12, 13 and 14 and adapted for use in containing cream, ice water and milk. Each of the containers or receptacles is adapted to be drained by one or another of spigots or faucets 15, 16 and 17. A stub shaft 18 is mounted vertically in a hole arranged substantially centrally of the bottom of the receptacle 14 and is journaled in a gland or stufling box 19 adapted to provide a milk-tight, non-leaking joint. The stub, shaft 18 is formed with a threaded socket opening upwardly and an agitator shaft 20 is screwed at its lower endin and rises vertically from said socket, there being a winged locknut 21 screwed on said agitator shaft and adapted to engage the stub shaft and securely connect said members. A plurality of agitating blades 22 are fixed to and extend substantially radially from opposite sides of the agitator shaft. Each of the blades 22 is curved longitudinally as to width and also is arranged helically as to thickness. The blades 22 are so mounted that in the rotation of the shaft 20 in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1, said blades tend to effect a downward movement of fluid such as milk or buttermilk encountered thereby, thus insuring that the liquid drawn for dispensing each time is properly agitated and possesses its proportionate share of the richness of the body of fluid contained in the receptacle 14. A portion 23 of the stub shaft 18 is squared and a pinion 24 is mounted thereon and secured thereto by a nut 25 screwed on the lower extremity of said shaft, the pinion and nut being beneath the bottom of the receptacle 14. A lever 26 is mounted on a vertical fulcrum 27 extending downward from the bottom of the receptacle 14 and said lever is formed with a segmental gear 28 on one end adapted to mesh with the pinion 24. The gear 28 preferably has two to three times more teeth than the pinion 24. The spigot or faucet valve plug 29 extends downwardly from the chamber 30 and an arm 31 is rigidly mounted at one end on and extends radially from the lower end portion of said plug. A slot 32 is formed in the apron 33 of the tank and the arm 31 extends through said slot and beneath the bottom of the receptacle 14 and is free to move through an arc therein. A link 34 pivotally connects the inner end portion of the arm 31 to the extremity of the lever 26.

As illustrated, the parts are shown in closed positions. When it is desired to draw liquid from the receptacle 14 the handle 35 of the spigot or faucet 17 is turned substantially one-quarter of a revolution into a plane perpendicular with the front wall of the tank, whereupon the arm 31 moves through an arc indicated by the arrow in Figure 3 and causes a corresponding movement of the toothed margin of the segmental gear 28 through operation of the link 34 and lever 26. The gear 28 rotates the pinion 24, stub shaft 18 and agitator 20 together.

I claim as my invention 1. In a dispensing apparatus having a tank, a spigot mounted externally of said tank and an agitating device mounted internally of said tank; the combination with said agitating device and spigot of a shaft vertically arranged and extending through the bottom of said tank, said agitating device screwed in and detachably carried by said shaft, a gland within said tank surrounding said shaft, a pinion on the lower end of said shaft, an arm on the lower end of the spigot, a lever fulcrumed on the bottom of the tank and formed with a seg mental gear meshing with said pinion, and a link pivotally connecting said arm and lever.

2. In a device of the class described, a stub shaft, an agitator shaft detachably screwed thereto, a winged lock nut on the agitator shaft engaging the stub shaft, and helical blades on the agitator shaft.

Signed at Boone, in the county of Boone and State of Iowa, this 26th day of September, 1921.

GUS POULOS. 

